Drug cartels and their Islamic terrorist teammates

Washington Times:

A former director of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned federal officials shortly after the September 11 attacks that violent drug cartels from Mexico were teaming with Muslim gangs to fund terrorist organizations overseas.

Asa Hutchinson, who also has been a Homeland Security undersecretary, said that in 2001, DEA agents uncovered the link between the drug cartels and terrorist groups but too few government officials listened.

"I think it's important to recognize that the link between terrorism and drug trafficking exists," said Mr. Hutchinson in a phone interview from Arkansas. "While we are fighting terrorists, we should not neglect our fight against drug traffickers. We shouldn't neglect it, because the link is there."

Last week, The Washington Times disclosed a confidential DEA report substantiating the link between Islamist sleeper cells in the U.S. and Mexican drug cartels. The report, which included several documented U.S. investigations into the terrorist/cartel connection, stated that Middle Eastern operatives funded terrorist groups with drug money linked to Mexican cartels.

Furthermore, the 2005 document suggests that some Islamist terrorists are disguising themselves as Hispanics.

In 2001, Mr. Hutchinson said, he told federal officials that terrorists would use any internal weakness if government officials failed to maintain adequate resources, a foolproof immigration system and enhanced border-security measures. He became director of the DEA just one month before al Qaeda operatives hijacked four U.S. jetliners and killed almost 3,000 people.

"After September 11, our agents interviewed some of our sources in Mexico," Mr. Hutchinson said. "During the course of that, they started seeing the connection globally between terrorists and drug trafficking."

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Critics claim that the Islamist would not work with a "secular" Arab like Saddam. They ignore the fact that the teetotalers work with drug dealers directly in Afghanistan and as this article points out they work with them in this hemisphere too. They are our enemies sand they are willing to work with other enemies of this country to achieve their objectives.